One Day
by Korrin Belle
Summary: Rin and Ryuuji have officially become a couple, but with Rin's looming execution, neither of them knows how much time they really have to spend together, so Rin has convinced Ryuuji to skip school so they can have one solid day alone together to have fun. This is that One Day.
1. Chapter 1

This is a sequel to Living Without Regret (which is a sequel to Drunk and Content) which is hosted on my AO3 account due to having a MA rating for sexual content. This can be read as a one-shot without too much confusion.

I'm writing this series as a chance to do all the obligatory fluff stories, and this one is the homework/study session cliche. The next chapter contains MA sexual content so will be hosted on AO3 when it's written, and skipped here, continuing with chapter 3 when I actually get around to writing it.

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><p><strong>One Day: Homework?!<strong>

When Rin had first declared that he had a "list of demands", Ryuuji wasn't sure whether to be excited or nervous. He had no idea what to expect. The first item on the list, "skip school and spend the day with me" had been easy enough to agree to since they were already skipping anyway and had just officially, but secretly, become a couple, but Rin had been adamant about not revealing the individual demands until he was ready to ask for them.

The second item on the list? Help Rin With His Homework.

"Are you... Are you serious?" Ryuuji asked incredulously, "_You_ of all people? Want to do homework?"

"Shut up already, I get it," Rin huffed, "I just thought it would help get Yukio off my back when he catches wind that I didn't go to school. Besides, having a genius for a boyfriend should have its perks," he said with a grin.

"I'm hardly a genius," Ryuuji said, blushing and cowing his head at the compliment, "Wouldn't you want to shower first?" he asked as he reached over and ran his finger down the side of Rin's cheek, scratching off some of the dried blood.

"Work first, then the rest of the day can be fun!" he said, grinning at Ryuuji with a predatory smile as he flopped down in to his desk chair and started pulling out his text books.

Ryuuji blushed as he tried to ignore the fact that Rin had subtly lumped a shower in to the fun category and pulled Yukio's chair over to Rin's desk so they could sit together. "Alright. What do you got?"

"Algebra, English and that paper on religious cultural sensitivity," Rin said as he started organizing his textbooks.

"Alright, what have you got done for the paper so far?"

"Uh..." Rin hesitated, a slow sheepish grin spreading out across his face as he shrugged, "Nothing?"

"Seriously? Wasn't that assigned a week ago?"

"Yeeeeah..." Rin sighed with a bored expression as he leaned back in his chair, "I don't even get the point. I'm already bad at doing anything that doesn't involving hacking up a demon right in front of me. This isn't even relevant to demon hunting at all, not like your Aria stuff, boring as it is."

"It's relevant to working in a worldwide religious organization made up of many different people," Ryuuji countered without missing a beat, trying to fight back his annoyance over Rin's jab against his Meister.

"I guess..." Rin grumbled, stretching out over the top of his desk and chewing on his pen absentmindedly.

"I'd think you'd have an easy time of it. You could just write about your experience within the order."

"You mean my experience of constantly being persecuted by the organization I work for?" Rin said sarcastically.

Ryuji snorted. As if he wasn't the one constantly reminding Rin to take his situation more seriously.

"I was thinking more along the lines of your experience being raised in a Christian monastery in Japan, and working as a team with Buddhist monks and Shinto priestesses," he said flatly, "Beyond that suggestion, I can't help you with it anyways, since you haven't written anything yet. Algebra or English?"

"Doesn't matter. They're both equally gibberish to me."

Ryuuji just sighed, pulling the math textbook forward. "Get started and let me know if you want any help. Otherwise I'll just point out any mistakes I spot."

Rin sighed, opening up the textbook and trying to start on the assigned work. Ryuuji sat leaning with his head in his hand, tapping his finger impatiently against the side of his own skull as he watched Rin begin copying the equations from the text book. He vaguely wished that he had some of his own work to do to keep himself occupied, but even if he'd had the foresight to plan for this, he didn't have any unfinished homework to work on anyway, though he'd be playing catch up after skipping today. Well, if he could get away today to speak to his teachers, it probably wouldn't take him more than one afternoon, but he had a feeling Rin wasn't going to let him go so easily.

He watched as Rin sat scribbling, tongue poking out between his teeth as he contemplated the equations, before finally stopping and simply staring at the paper. Ryuji leaned over to inspect his work and saw nothing wrong with it so far, so he sat back to let Rin continue to work, and then grew more and more impatient as Rin simply stared at the problem. Rin's tail began to thump irritably against the floor as his expression grew sour, before he turned to Ryuji with a self depreciating smile.

"Um... I think I screwed it up," he said with an embarrassed laugh as he rubbed the back of his head.

"No..." Ryuuji paused as he looked it over again to make sure he hadn't missed something. "It's fine. Keep going."

"Uh..." Rin looked down at the work again, "Can I have a hint?"

Ryuuji sighed. "Let's see your notes," he said, taking the notebook from Rin and flipping to the most recently used pages. He grimaced at Rin's scrawling, messy print, which appeared to trail off half way through an example. At one point the ink of his pen even bled in to some sort of colorless stain, becoming indecipherable.

"What is this?" Ryuji asked, unimpressed.

"Those are my notes!" Rin huffed.

"Obviously..." Ryuji said with disdain, before sighing and snatching Rin's pen away to fill in the formulas he'd missed out on. "Use this," he said, dropping the notebook back down in front of Rin.

Rin grumbled for a moment before looking over Ryuji's neat handwriting, and then looking back at the equation he'd been working on. Once again, Ryuji found himself growing impatient as Rin sat there glancing back and forth between the example and his own attempt and silently counting on his fingers. Ryuji almost breathed a sigh of relief as Rin finally, hesitantly put pen to paper and slowly worked out the rest of the equation, before nervously sliding his notebook towards Ryuji.

"How's it look?"

"It's correct."

"Really!?" Rin asked gleefully.

"Of course "really". Do you think I'd lie?"

"No, no, just... I thought for sure it was wrong somehow."

"It's a basic formula. Even you shouldn't have difficulty with it," Ryuji sniped.

"Right!" Rin smiled, looking almost excited as he began working on the next equation and for a split second Ryuuji felt guilty for taking a pot shot at Rin's intelligence when he was the one who'd taken the initiative to ask for help, until Rin began silently staring at the question again, as if the answer would make itself known through intimidation tactics.

"What's the problem?" Ryuuji finally asked, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice, but wanting to hurry things along.

"Do I use a different formula for this one?"

"No... It's the same one for the next ten questions, as specified in your textbook."

"Oh..." Rin bit his lip, trying to hide his pout, "But it looks wrong."

Ryuuji tried, and failed, to hide his sigh. "The question isn't in the right form. You have to re-work it until it fits the equation." Rin stared at him blankly, and Ryuuji rolled his eyes. "Look," he said, pointing, "This part shares a common denominator. You pull it out to expand the equation, and then it matches the formula."

"Um... OH!" Rin exclaimed excitedly as Ryuuji's words seemed to take root in his head. More silent finger counting, and this time small notes in the margins of the page as Rin worked out the multiplication before he finally began working his way through the formula proper. When he was satisfied with his work he slid the page over to Ryuuji with a grin on his face, and Ryuuji actually felt a twinge of guilt as he told Rin it was the wrong answer.

"Fuck me!" Rin shouted, looking down at the page in confusion, and Ryuuji snorted at his outburst. "What did I do wrong?"

"If I was marking this as a teacher, I'd give you half marks, 'cuz you used the formula correctly, but you screwed up the multiplication."

Rin groaned loudly and let his head fall forward, banging it against the desk and causing Ryuuji to wince. "Ow..." he said lamely, rubbing his forehead and turning away. "I'm such a screw up."

"Rin... You're not a screw up. It's a simple mistake that everyone makes."

"Uh huh, except you Mr. 100%," he said bitterly.

"No," Ryuuji said, grabbing Rin's head firmly and turning it back towards him, "Even I make those kind of mistakes."

"Really?" Rin asked, raising one eyebrow skeptically.

"Yes, really. I just check my work before handing it in and catch my own mistakes."

"Ugh, but that's so much extra work," Rin whined.

"I don't know what you're bitching about, because right now I'm the one checking your work, so get back to it," he said as he slapped Rin's pen back in to his hand and Rin carried on with only an incomprehensible grumble. Ryuuji watched the silent counting and margin notes again and made a mental note to spend some time with Rin going over the multiplication tables. That would be a chore for both of them, surely, but it would help Rin in the long run. For the moment he ignored the nagging at the back of his head that there might not be a long run. Thinking like that was pointless.

The next time Rin slid the page towards Ryuuji he did so much more hesitantly, eyes nervously downcast as if he was afraid of failing again. Ryuuji eyed him silently until Rin looked up, and only then did he let the smile tug at his lips, before laughing and shaking his head at the erratic nature of Rin's confidence where academics were concerned.

"Oh god, what did I do wrong now?" Rin said, flushing with embarrassment and pulling the notebook back to look over his work.

"No, no, it's fine!" Ryuuji said quickly as he wiped away the tears forming at the corner of his eyes and tried to stifle his laughter. "You're just..." he stopped, unsure of what he wanted to say.

"I'm what?" Rin asked with an angry pout, looking up at Ryuuji from under his bangs.

_There it was._ "Cute," Ryuuji said as the word popped in to his head.

"I am fucking NOT cute!" Rin shouted as he stood up suddenly, his chair screeching across the wooden floorboards. Flushed with indignation, he grit his teeth before pulling himself together. "'Cute' is for animals and babies. If you want to compliment me, you should tell me I'm devilishly handsome," he said as he tried to wiggle his eyebrows. Ryuuji didn't even hesitate and burst out laughing again. Rin blushed hard again as he threw himself back in to his seat with another pout, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. As Ryuuji's laughter finally wound down Rin glared up at him, while his tail whipped from side to side like a pissed off cat. "Are you done?"

"Pfft, what? Are you eager to get back to math?" he asked, mockingly.

"Um, actually..." Rin began as his mood sobered and he ducked his gaze away from Ryuuji's again while tapping his index fingers together, "I was wondering if we could take a break?"

Ryuuji gaped at him as he felt a vein in his forehead tick in annoyance. "Are you fucking kidding me?! You've only done two questions!"

"But we've been at it for like an hour!" he whined.

"It's hasn't even been 30 minutes! Can't you tell time?!" He didn't mention that he could have been half finished in the same time frame, or that he was already learning a level above Rin. If they kept up this rate they'd never finish.

"Of course I can tell time! I'm not that stupid. It's hyper-bowl."

"... ..." Ryuuji was silent, his face contorted in confusion as he tried to make sense of Rin's statement, "...What?"

"Hyper-bowl... You know? Exaggeration. Who's the stupid one now?" Rin said mockingly, incredibly please to have apparently beaten Ryuuji at something intelligence based.

"It's pronounced high-per-boh-lee," Ryuuji deadpanned, and then sighed as Rin's face fell. He took a deep breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking again. "Just get back to work."

Rin heaved an overdramatic sigh and grumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'slave driver' as he began copying down the next equation.

"This slave driver will remember your attitude the next time you ask for help."

Rin sighed again, but said nothing, and the process of watching him count on his fingers and work the equations out the long way began again. Ryuuji read ahead in the questions, working out what Rin would have to do in order to solve them and made sure he solved at least 5 of the 10 questions required for each of the different formulas. Rin continued to make a few basic arithmetic errors here and there, but was otherwise able to follow the simple steps of the formulas once he was on the right path. The only other interruption came when Ryuuji was explaining how you could do division of fractions by multiplying by the reciprocal, which resulted in Rin listing all the ways in which Ryuuji was like a wizard, likening his skills as an Aria to using magical spells. They had been at it for almost an hour and a half by the time Ryuuji called it quits.

"Alright, let's stop here -"

"Oh thank God," Rin interrupted, slumping back in his seat and letting out a deep breath "So boring."

"You should be able to finish the rest in section A on your own," he continued, ignoring Rin, "None of the other questions cover anything I haven't already helped you with. Just do them for the practice. If you run in to any problems, you can always text me."

"Thanks!" Rin said throwing him a cheesy grin, but them grimaced, "But what about section B? The word problems."

"Well, at this level you'll always be told what formula to use. It's just a matter of determining what variables to use and where they go in the formula. Don't worry about them right now though, just finish the rest of section A. For most exams the majority of questions won't be word problems, so as long as you can get this stuff down you'll pass."

Rin snorted through his nose and scowled down at the textbook. "You don't think I can do it."

"Do one right now to prove me wrong."

"Wha- That's not fair!" Rin said, hurt passing over his features and Ryuuji instantly felt guilty though he didn't know why.

"You hate this stuff, why do you even care?" he asked defensively

Rin silently pouted as he chewed on the end of his pen so he didn't have to answer. After waiting a moment and deciding that Rin wasn't going to be any more forthcoming, Ryuuji leaned over, putting his hand on Rin's shoulder. "What's the problem?" he asked firmly, but calmly.

Rin heaved a sigh as he dropped the pen haphazardly on to the desk, crossed his arms against the hard surface of the desk and tucked his head in against them, hiding his face. "'_Don't worry about it'_... That's what everyone says when they think it's a waste of time trying to help me."

"Who says that?"

"Pretty much every teacher I've ever had, up until I stopped asking for help. Sometimes Yukio... Now you."

Ryuuji flinched, and he was almost offended that Rin was acting like this, despite the fact that he'd just spent the last hour and a half helping him, but he could see that Rin was seriously bothered by it. He did think it would be a waste to try to teach Rin that sort of thing, but not for the reasons he thought.

"Ok, look. It's shitty that your teachers do that, seeing as it's their job to teach you, I just think you need to focus on strengthening your basic math skills before you move on to something harder - Which, by the way," He paused as he gave Rin's shoulder a squeeze, "I am more than happy to help you with. Anyways you don't even need algebra as an exorcist. Frankly, maybe we should be working on your English instead."

Rin just rolled his eyes, but sat up straight again. "My math isn't that bad," he said haughtily.

"You count on your fingers, for Christ sakes, and you don't know your multiplication tables."

"I do so! I mean... I don't! The finger thing!" Rin said getting flustered as he tried to back track and deny both of Ryuuji's claims at the same time.

"I've just spent god knows how long watching you. You shouldn't still need to count on your fingers, and if you know some of your multiplication tables you certainly don't know all of them, but like I said, I'll fucking help you if you want to get better."

Rin scoffed, clearly deciding against arguing the point further and stood quickly, his chair squealing across the floor loudly. "Nope. I'm officially declaring homework time over. Shower time is now," Rin shouted, once again trying to wiggle his eyebrows.

Ryuuji just rolled his eyes, but quietly felt his heartbeat quicken as Rin grabbed two towels and dragged him out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

If the last chapter was the "study session" chapter, this one is the "tailfic". I don't normally give Rin's tail a lot of love in my writing, usually including it more as an afterthought, so here you go. However, the sex scene has been removed for publication from this site. Those who wish to read such things can wander over to my AO3 account under the username KorrinBelle. I've also started publishing a BDSM Bon x Rin fic under the title "Surrender" over an AO3 for anyone who's interested.

Once again, updates on this are slow! I only have ideas for one more chapter, but feel free to shoot me some suggestions if you have any.

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><p><strong>One Day: Showers<strong>

Ryuuji swallowed hard, clearing the lump from his throat. This certainly wouldn't be the first time they had bathed together, but in the past it had been different—Just two guys in the public showers, doing their best to ignore each other and avoid awkward staring. They weren't... They hadn't been a couple then. Even with their earlier foreplay this would be the first time they would be completely naked together since Ryuuji confessed to Rin. There was also something inherently intimate about washing another person's body. Not to mention, Rin never specified if they were going to be doing anything other than bathing, but why make a special request out of it if he wasn't planning anything interesting. Ryuuji shivered and tried to clear his mind before it could run too wild, driving him mad with what might happen.

Rin lead them through the dorm towards the bath room, and then began to undress without a word, placing his clothes in one of the provided cubbies. Ryuuji looked away, trying to focus on his own actions as Rin undressed beside him, but with every article of clothing Rin removed, Ryuuji felt his eyes stray back to the other boy's bared body. Rin wasn't built like he was, but the wiry muscles packed in to his smooth, tight frame were still definitely appealing, drawing Ryuuji's eyes in again and again against his will. He could feel the heat rising in his body as Rin caught him staring more than once. He looked away quickly each time Rin glanced up at him, trying to pretend he hadn't been staring, but Rin's grin grew wider and wider every time he looked back.

"For some reason, I never would have pegged you as being so shy."

"Shy? I'm not shy," Ryuuji scoffed, but he could feel himself reddening to the tips of his pierced ears. Yeah, that definitely wasn't subtle.

"Prudish then?" Rin said with a smirk, standing fully naked in front of Ryuuji as if daring him to look. Ryuuji held his eyes suspiciously high, staring somewhere above Rin's head, keeping the boy on the edge of his peripheral vision.

"Yo, my eyes are down here," Rin said with a laugh as he waved a hand in front of Ryuuji's face, trying to draw his attention downward.

"Whatever, let's get on with it," Ryuuji said, still doing his best to avoid staring. He grabbed Rin's hand, dragging him in to the shower room behind him, eyes forward so he wouldn't embarrass himself further. Once he was inside though, he hesitated, not sure what the other boy intended. Rin on the other hand headed straight for the showers, turning on the water and dancing away from the cold spray as he waited for the water to heat up.

Ryuuji stood there awkwardly as Rin began to shower, wondering if he should simply do the same, or...

Rin glanced over his shoulder, wiping the water out of his eyes, and thankfully motioned Ryuuji over with a wave of his hand, before he could waste too much time on thought and hesitation.

"Wash my back, will ya'?" Rin said, handing Ryuuji a bar of soap. He didn't even wait for an answer before going back to washing his hair, trying to get the last flecks of blood out. Ryuuji stood behind him, bar of soap in hand, and swallowed the lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat. This didn't have to be hard. He began working up a lather with the soap and after a moment's hesitation began to scrub Rin's back. Rin purred, leaning in to the contact, but kept washing himself, while Ryuuji once again found himself wondering if he was supposed to be doing something other than the obvious. Lost in thought he watched the soap as it made trails, flowing around the curves of Rin's leanly muscled back and trailing down to the cleft of his firm butt—right where his tail emerged. Ryuuji trailed his hand down Rin's back. Without thinking about it, he ran his thumb over the edge of Rin's tail, right at the base above the sealing ring that still encircled it, and Rin froze, arching his back. Ryuuji pulled his hand back, and Rin relaxed, only to turn and cast a baleful look over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" His voice was less than amused.

"I've never actually touched it before," Ryuuji said, "Is it okay?" he asked, but he didn't wait for an answer before he continued to run his thumb over the fur at the base of the tail. It felt coarse, but not unpleasant. Ryuuji thought it suited him.

"Just...Just be careful."

"I know," he said, gently lifting Rin's tail. He didn't need reminding about how sensitive the other boy's tail was—not after the way he saw him screaming in agony when Shura intervened on their fight—so he took extra care as he pet it, running his hand down its length and letting the wet fur slide over his fingers. Rin flicked his tail impatiently, and Ryuuji looked up to find Rin standing rigidly at attention, shivering slightly despite the heat of the water and clenching his fists at his sides. Even from the back he could see that Rin was flushed.

"Are you okay? Should I stop?" Ryuuji asked, letting the tail fall. Rin instantly relaxed, releasing a rush of breath before shaking his head.

"No... I'm fine... Just..." he mumbled, letting his sentence trail off.

Curious about his mumbled lack of response and slightly afraid he might have hurt him, Ryuuji gently took hold of Rin's shoulder and turned him to get a better look at him, only to find the last thing he would have expected. Rin was blushing bright red, with an angry little pout on his face and he wouldn't meet Ryuuji's eyes. His cock was also hard as a rock. Ryuji flushed in response to that sight, licking his lips as blood went both to his face and groin, but then began to laugh; a self-satisfied chuckle.

"Oh, so it didn't hurt?"

"Shaddup..."

"It looks like you rather enjoyed it."

"I said shut up!"

Ryuuji leaned down to kiss Rin's pouting lips, silencing his complaints. "Do you want me to touch your tail some more?" he asked, smirking against Rin's mouth.

Rin flashed a glare at Ryuuji and then looked away with a huff, but did not say no.

Ryuuji took a step forward, pressing his body against Rin and wrapping his arms around him, letting the hot water from the shower wash over both of them. Rin shivered in anticipation, knowing what was about to come.

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><p>Rin quickly re-showered, removing the post sex sweat he'd built up, before going to get the bath ready. By the time Ryuuji had returned to his senses and stood on shaky legs to shower, Rin was already sinking in to the large tub full of hot, steaming water.<p>

When Ryuuji finished showering, he pushed the mop of wet hair out of his eyes and looked over somewhat hesitantly to where Rin was lounging, propped up on his elbows against the edge of the tub with his head back and eyes closed. He had no idea why he'd hesitate now, not after everything they'd done, but he couldn't help thinking of the last time they'd bathed together, less than a week ago at his family ryokan, when he'd almost worked up the courage to confess to Rin. He'd started off by asking Rin if he liked Shiemi. He grimaced as he remembered the incident. What the hell had he been thinking? He honestly wasn't sure what he'd hoped to achieve by asking that question. He already knew the answer to it anyways, but he'd been lucky when Rin hesitated with his answer, because looking back on it, if he hadn't hesitated, if he had simply agreed that he did like her, Ryuuji probably would have taken that as Rin's final answer and would have assumed that there was no way the other boy could like more than one person at the same time, let alone a guy. He'd obviously been wrong, but it still bothered him. He'd already asked Rin once how he'd been able to make up his mind so quickly and so assuredly after Ryuuji's confession, and the other boy had brushed the question off, teasing him instead of answering. Turns out, in some manner of speaking, he had confessed to Rin while drunk. He blushed just thinking about it. He didn't remember it at all, so he had no idea what he'd said or done.

"What are you waiting for?" Rin asked, looking up at him idly and Ryuuji snapped back to his senses, flushing as he realized he'd just been standing there for who knows how long, deep in thought.

"N-nothing!" he snapped, and he quickly stepped in to the tub, awkwardly leaving a little distance between the two of them. Rin didn't even notice, quickly closing the gap to lean his head against Ryuuji's shoulder with a contented sigh. Ryuuji looked down at him, shaking his head slightly. What the hell was he worrying about? He wrapped his arm around Rin's shoulder, leaning his head against the other boy's and letting his eyes slide shut as he relaxed in to the hot water.

He startled back to reality a while later, feeling like he might have fallen asleep, and unsure of how much time had passed. Rin was snoring quietly, his cheeks flushed from the heat. A string of drool trailed from his mouth down in to the water and Ryuuji chuckled quietly to himself. He thought he should wake Rin, but he didn't want the moment to end quite that quickly, so he tightened his grip, pulling the other boy close once more and buried his face in his hair, breathing deeply. Beneath the smell of the shampoo Rin had used to wash his hair was a wet and earthy scent, similar to the smell of a fire that had been doused with water. Ryuuji smiled to himself, letting his eyes drift closed.

When he next opened his eyes it was to the sight of Rin staring at him, and Ryuuji flinched away from him, startled by the unexpected proximity. His head swam with a sudden sense of vertigo, brought on by the heat, and he had to brace himself against the edge of the tub.

"Probably about time to get out," Rin said, chuckling quietly as he slipped out from under Ryuuji's arm.

"Yeah," Ryuuji mumbled, taking a deep breath to steady himself. He was about to stand, but when Rin did so first, Ryuuji averted his eyes quickly. He had no idea how Rin could still be so casual about being naked in front of him, like nothing in their relationship had changed. He waited a moment for Rin to enter the changing room before following him, quickly wrapping a towel around his waist, but he did not miss the way Rin's eyes followed him as he moved towards the cubby that contained his clothes, moving over his body like the eyes of a predator sighting its prey. Okay, so something definitely had changed.

Ryuuji instinctively angled his body away from Rin as he began to dry himself off and Rin laughed. Ryuuji looked up at him sharply, instantly defensive at the mocking tone.

"You _are_ body shy!" Rin said sounding triumphant.

"Am not!" Ryuuji insisted, "I have no problem bathing with the other guys!"

"So I'm special?" Rin asked, grinning widely. Ryuuji felt his face grow hot as he stuttered, trying to come up with a response when Rin marched towards him and yanked the towel away from his hips.

"Hey! Give it back!" Ryuuji barked, trying to cover himself with one hand while reaching for the towel with the other. Rin just laughed as he danced out of Ryuuji's reach, waving the towel in the air. Ryuuji took a deep breath and swallowed his annoyance, before letting his hands drop to show he really didn't care, and getting a fresh towel, wrapping it around his waist. He wasn't going to play that game. Not now.

"Aw, you're no fun," Rin said, pouting and letting the stolen towel hang limply at his side. Ryuuji grumbled under his breath, trying to ignore Rin's antics as he attempted to continue drying himself off. He had little warning as Rin threw the spare towel over his head and started vigorously rubbing it over his hair as if her were trying to polish a rock. Ryuuji grabbed Rin's wrist, halting the harsh movements, and glared at him out from under the edge of the towel as it draped down over his face. Rin looked up at him, smiling cheekily, like he knew he was doing something he shouldn't, but doing it anyway—probably doing it deliberately to incite a reaction. Ryuuji shook his head with a sigh, and bent down, pulling Rin's head under the towel with him and kissing him softly. The kiss stood in stark contrast to everything they'd just done, closer to their first kiss—soft and chaste, tentatively exploring. Ryuuji let his lips brush gently against Rin's for a split second, before they stood silently under the tower together, sharing the same damp air.

"Keep that up and I'll get hard again," Rin said as he smirked at him. Ryuuji blushed, laughing lightly before ducking out from under the towel. He roughly toweled off Rin's hair, returning the treatment he'd just received, before letting the towel fall down around Rin's shoulders.

"Are you complaining?" Ryuuji asked.

"No," Rin blushed, "But I've got more stuff for us to do, and we don't have all day."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Ryuuji asked as he finished toweling himself off, and started to dress.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving," Rin said as he walked over to the cubby with his clothes.

"You had the opportunity to eat earlier," Ryuuji said with a smirk, referring to earlier when Rin had spit instead of swallowing.

Rin looked up at him, innocently curious. "Really? When?" he asked, totally oblivious to what Ryuuji was implying. Ryuuji's face turned bright red.

"Never mind," he said, turning his embarrassed gaze sharply after from the other boy. He couldn't believe he'd said that much. He wasn't about to explain it. He finished dressing, hoping Rin wouldn't enquire further. "So what did you have in mind? You gonna' cook?" he asked, trying to change the topic back to Rin's plans.

"Nope!" Rin said with a grin as he clapped his hands together, "You're gonna' treat me to lunch."

"What?! Why the hell do you just get to decide that?" Ryuuji barked at him.

"It's a date right? You asked me out, so you gotta' pay. Besides I'm broke."

"I'm not much better off," Ryuuji said irritably, but the idea of taking Rin out on a date had its appeal. He would have liked it to be on his own terms, but… oh well. "Just… don't expect anywhere fancy," he said, and Rin nodded enthusiastically as he finished dressing and dragged Ryuuji from the bathroom with little protest as they quietly discussed their plans for the day.


	3. Chapter 3

Apologies for leaving this so long without an update. The final chapter is already written and waiting to be edited, so I swear the wait won't be that long. lol

Thanks as always for reading and reviewing. :3

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><p><strong>One Day: The Date<strong>

Rin stared dubiously at the racks of food through the front window of the convenience store. Though Ryuuji had warned him not to expect much, somehow even this had been below his expectations. He waited, holding on to Ryuuji's jacket—trying to make the fact that the other boy was still wearing his school uniform a little less obvious—and watched as Ryuuji moved methodically through the store, before finally making his selections, paying and emerging with a plastic bag full of food.

Ryuuji took his jacket from Rin, slipping it back over his shoulders before he started walking. Rin fell in step beside him. Ryuuji glanced down at him, not failing to notice the way the other boy was pouting.

"I told you not to expect anything fancy," Ryuuji said as he bumped shoulders with the smaller boy, trying to knock him out of his sullen mood.

"Yeah, yeah," Rin grumbled, "Just… I thought you'd at least take me somewhere like Moss Burger."

"Like hell I'd take you to a fast food place for our first date," Ryuuji said, puffing out his chest as if insulted by the mere suggestion.

"So, where we going then?" Rin asked.

Ryuuji didn't answer. Instead, he ducked his head, hiding the blush he could feel warming his cheeks and began to march steadily toward his planned destination. He could feel Rin staring at him, but then the other boy shrugged as if in defeat and fell in step beside him. Rin said nothing, but Ryuuji could feel the other boy's curiosity growing. He could practically see the gears turning inside Rin's head as he tried to get a bearing on their surroundings, to figure out where they were and where they were going as he led him through the twisting streets of the labyrinthian city.

They finally came to what appeared to be a dead-end down a tiny side street when Ryuuji turned and squeezed down a gap between two apartment complexes, barely wide enough to walk through without scraping his shoulders against the bricks. He could hear Rin grumbling in confusion behind him, but the half demon didn't otherwise complain.

When they finally emerged from between the two buildings they were standing in a small garden terrace overlooking the city. White cobbled stone lined the terrace, and a small coniferous tree stood off to the side, providing shade for the single bench sitting by the stone wall that separated them from a three story drop.

"Woah…" Rin said as he approached the stone wall. The view before them was completely unimpeded as cerulean blue skies spread out before them, and the city continued to cascade below them; the hustle and bustle of city life seeming far away.

"Wow," Rin said again, leaning out over the drop, looking down. A gust of wind rustled his hair, whispering through the leaves of the tree above them. Rin turned, brushing his bangs out of his eyes as he smiled at Ryuuji.

"How did you even find this place?" he asked breathlessly.

"I saw this spot once from below while jogging," Ryuuji said as he moved to stand beside Rin, overlooking the city. "It didn't look like it was even accessible from the houses, so it kinda' bugged me. I came back later an' looked around until I found the way in… It took a while," he said with a hapless shrug.

They stood silently for a moment, enjoying the view and each other's presence. Finally Rin turned towards him.

"So… Now what?"

"Sooo…." Ryuuji said hesitantly, knowing he was starting to blush again as he took a seat on the bench and began unpacking the contents of the plastic bag.

"I guess… This is a picnic," he finally admitted, and looked up to see a wide smile splitting Rin's face. His face burned and he looked back down at the food he was holding, sitting stiffly as Rin sat beside him, throwing his arms around Ryuuji's shoulders.

"I never realized you were such a fuckin' softy," Rin said, laughing lightly in his ear. Ryuuji burned indignantly at the comment, wanting to deny it, but he knew Rin hadn't meant it negatively, and the other boy's warmth was pressing in on him comfortably where Rin still held him. Instead, Ryuuji focused his fumbling fingers on unwrapping one of the sandwiches he'd purchased before holding it up for Rin to take. He almost flinched as the half demon boy leaned over, taking a bite out of the sandwich right out of his hand.

"Oi… You gonna' take the sandwich or what?" Ryuuji finally asked when Rin failed to untangle himself from Ryuuji's shoulders.

"Hmmm, nope!" Rin said, pretending for a moment to have thought about his answer before taking another bite of the sandwich which Ryuuji was still holding up, as if he didn't know what else to do with it.

"I wanna' eat too, ya know," Ryuuji said irritably.

Without untangling himself from the other boy, Rin reached over Ryuuji's shoulder and grabbed the other sandwich and unwrapped it, holding it up in front of Ryuuji. When Ryuuji reached for it with his free hand, Rin moved it out of the way. Ryuuji looked at Rin with a flat, unimpressed stare. Rin's eyes twinkled as he looked back at him impishly.

"I can feed myself."

"Sure ya' can, big boy. Nobody doubts that."

Ryuuji sighed. "Rin, I'm not going to- mph!" he was cut off as Rin took his open mouth as an invitation, shoving the sandwich in to Ryuuji's face while he spoke. Ryuuji glared, his eyes bulging angrily as he twisted in Rin's vice-like grip, trying to avoid the sandwich as Rin pressed it against his closed mouth.

After a moment of futile struggling Ryuuji stilled and heaved an exasperated sigh through his nose, before taking a bite of the sandwich—as if he had any other choice. He could feel a silent laugh rumbling from Rin's chest against his back and turned to glare at the other boy, but the effect was much diminished with a mouthful of barely contained food. Ryuuji chewed and swallowed after a moment of struggle.

"You got a little something there," Rin said, trying to supress his laughter as he pointed to Ryuuji's face.

Ryuuji stopped, his annoyance instantly redirected as he tried to clean his face. He licked his lips, trying to clean up any stray crumbs or sauce and then looked back to Rin for approval.

Rin's lips twitched up in to a smile as he bent forward and licked the opposite side of Ryuuji's mouth before planting a quick kiss there. Ryuuji's eyes bugged out as he jerked away from Rin before looking around to make sure no one had seen that. Of course, no one was around, so he sagged back in to Rin's arms with a sigh, feeling a bit like an idiot.

"Better," Rin said, referring to his handiwork and sounding very self-satisfied.

Ryuuji raised a skeptical eyebrow, but said nothing. Instead, he kissed Rin, properly, on the lips, letting the moment linger before he pulled away.

Rin smiled and held the sandwich up to Ryuuji's face again. This time the older boy just sighed before taking a bite, raising the sandwich he was holding to Rin's mouth and for a while they just ate quietly, feeding each other without too much more complaining on Ryuuji's part. When the sandwiches were gone, Ryuuji pulled a couple of bottled drinks from the bag and this time Rin was more than happy to take the bottle and drink on his own, letting out a loud sigh of satisfaction as he finished washing down the food.

"Got anything else in there?" Rin asked looking hopeful. "Dessert?"

"Fruit," Ryuuji said, pulling a plastic container holding a cluster of grapes out of the bag.

"Good enough," Rin said as he unwound his arm from around Ryuuji's shoulder and then scooched down on the bench, lying down and putting his head on Ryuujis lap.

"What do ya' think you're doing?"

"Waiting for you to keep feeding me," Rin said. He closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and simply waited, as if he knew that's all he had to do and eventually Ryuuji would give in.

Ryuuji sighed and tried not to let it bother him. Being an idiot was completely within the realm of normal behaviour for Rin, so Ryuuji shouldn't have been at all surprised that Rin would behave like a cute idiot while on a date. Could he really fault him though? Rin's blatant enthusiasm was so much more than he had hoped for that very morning when he'd been trying to muster up the courage just to confess his feelings, and it was more than a little contagious.

He picked a grape off the vine and placed it at Rin's lips. The other boy ate it and smiled up at Ryuuji, his eyes dancing as if he'd just won a silent victory. Ryuuji rolled his eyes and ate one of the grapes. Then he ate another, and another. Rin frowned. When Ryuuji raised a fourth grape to his own mouth Rin grabbed his arm. Ryuuji smirked and struggled against Rin's strength to keep lifting the grape to his own mouth, in the end bowing his head to close the distance and eat the grape before Rin could wrestle it from his hand. Rin growled, but his eyes were playful. As soon as Ryuuji plucked another grape from the vine, Rin lifted himself to Ryuuji's hand, using his mouth to take the grape from his fingers. Except he didn't stop at the grape.

Ryuuji went rigid as he felt Rin's tongue curl around his finger tip, his lips closing to suck lightly on the end of the digit before releasing it. Rin smiled wolfishly up at Ryuuji, knowing exactly what he'd done.

"Rin," Ryuuji said, forcing down the desire he felt welling up inside him, "That's enough."

"Awww, why?"

"Because you're making me horny," Ryuuji said flatly.

That smile again. Rin wasn't at all sorry for what he was doing. "So? It's not like there's anyone else here."

"That's beside the point," Ryuuji growled, "We're outside. Anyone could walk in on us at any moment, and we're at least a fifteen minute walk from your dorm, so all you're going to succeed in doing is making both of us frustrated. Now, do you want these damn grapes or not?"

Rin rolled his eyes. "Well, I can think of a few things I want more than the grapes, but fine," he said, letting his head fall back to Ryuuji's lap. He let Ryuuji continue to feed him normally from that point on, but Ryuuji was left wondering who had really won that little argument, considering the way he seemed to have gotten conned in to pampering the other boy. Ryuuji just shook his head and sighed, letting himself enjoy the blissful look on Rin's face as he continued to feed him.

* * *

><p>Light flickered and danced through the rustling leaves above them, playing across Rin's slack face. The grapes were gone, and Rin was sleeping, having refused to vacate Ryuuji's lap after they were done eating, simply enjoying the warmth, the quiet, and his contentedly full stomach.<p>

Ryuuji's fingers ran idly through Rin's hair, gently scraping across his scalp. Something that sounded suspiciously like purring emanated from Rin periodically, and when Ryuuji's fingers stopped their movement against his scalp, the half demon unconsciously pressed in to them, seeking the contact.

Ryuuji glanced out over the cityscape and sighed. It was getting late in the afternoon and school would be getting out soon. Their day together, this short lived, singular moment in time, was coming to an end. Tomorrow they'd pretend that none of this had ever happened, at least when they weren't alone—not that he knew when, or even if, they'd ever get another day alone like this. Rin was living on borrowed time.

Part of Ryuuji wanted to tell everyone so he wouldn't have to hide this; wouldn't have to miss a single possible moment at Rin's side… But… Was he being selfish? Even if Rin wasn't executed, it's not like they could have a future together, not with everything that was expected of him. Ryuuji sighed. He was doing a lot of that lately.

"If you keep thinking too hard, your face will get stuck like that."

Ryuuji scowled as he looked down at Rin. How long had he been awake?

"Yup," Rin said, "That face."

"There's nothing wrong with my face," Ryuuji said irritably, continuing to scowl. Rin just snickered as he climbed off Ryuuji's lap, stretching after his short nap, his joins popping.

"I guess we should head back," Rin said with a yawn. Ryuuji nodded, and they stood quietly, collecting up their garbage and vacating the tiny hidden terrace. They walked through the winding streets of True Cross Town, amicably silent, back towards Rin's dorm. The sun was still shining, high overhead, and would remain there for hours yet. The days were starting to get shorter, but it was still summer. That didn't mean they had any more time together though. School would be out in barely an hour and people would come looking for them. Going to cram school now would only be more suspicious, since there was little chance that either of their absences had gone unnoticed. Shima and Konekomaru would have missed Ryuuji at lunch. Likewise, Rin was supposed to deliver Yukio his lunch, and Ryuuji had normal classes with the young teacher. Would it be better to just come out and tell everyone so they could enjoy their time together without worry?

Ryuuji felt greedy and guilty all at once. If Rin did get executed, Ryuuji wasn't sure he'd be able to deal with the way the others would look at him if they knew; not with disgust or anything like that, but with pity. It would almost be easier to try to return to his normal life as if nothing had happened between them—to just lock these feelings and memories away inside him and not have to deal with the others wondering if he was okay. They could all mourn together, as Rin's friends. He didn't want, or need, special attention.

"Oh!" Rin said, stopping suddenly and shocking Ryuuji out of his depressed mood, "Do you mind if I get something?" He pointed to the doors of the pharmacy they were passing

Ryuuji shrugged. "Sure," he said, moving towards the doors of the building, but Rin held up his hands.

"You can just wait here," he said quickly, "I just... Uh... I'm gonna' buy some medicine or something, so Yukio doesn't get so angry about me skipping school."

Ryuuji raised an eyebrow, but simply shrugged again. "Suit yourself," he said as he took up a position next to the door, leaning against the wall. Rin ran inside and emerged a few minutes later holding a nondescript white paper bag. Wordlessly, they hurried back to the old boys' dorm, knowing that their time was almost up.


	4. Chapter 4

Here it is, the final chapter. I hope you've all enjoyed the journey so far. I hope this uploads too... For some reason this website is giving me a bunch of errors.

Anyways... Thanks as always for reading and reviewing. :3

Remember that I have other stories available on AO3 that aren't available here, and I hope you look forward to some cute fluff stories here in the future.

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><p><strong>One Day: Last Requests<strong>

Ryuuji didn't even have the chance to ask; what now?

As soon as they entered the room, Rin tossed the little white pharmacy bag on to his bedside table and hopped on to his bed, patting the space beside him. Déjà vu? Rin flashed him one of his toothy grins, the kind that was quickly beginning to make Ryuuji feel both excited and nervous at the same time.

"Want to continue where we left off?" Rin asked. He grabbed Ryuuji's hand as the other boy approached, raising it to his mouth. He flicked his tongue out, not even touching Ryuuji, but somehow sending an electric current directly to his groin. Ryuuji began to sweat.

"D-Do we have time? What if your brother walks in on us?"

"We got a half hour at least," Rin said as he kissed Ryuuji's fingertips, "We'll be able to hear the chimes when school ends too."

"I guess..." Ryuuji trailed off as he took a deep breath. Truthfully, being walked in on wasn't even what he was really worried about.

He let Rin drag him to the bed and had barely taken his seat before the other boy was on him, kissing him and touching him.

"Rin," he said in between the kisses, but the other boy didn't slow his assault. Instead, Rin placed his hand at the front of Ryuuji's pants. Ryuuji grabbed his wrist and this time Rin looked up.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing... But ... I only confessed to you this morning. This all feels so fast," Ryuuji said, running his hand through his hair, embarrassed to even be complaining.

Rin bit his lip, looking almost hurt. "But... We already..."

"I mean, don't get me wrong," Ryuuji said quickly, "I want to be with you. I want to do this stuff with you. I just… Everything we've done already we did _before_ going on a date, and some of it even before I properly asked you out. It just feels so backwards." He was rambling, trying to justify the way he felt, and yet feeling guilty about spoiling the mood at the same time. Today was supposed to be about Rin after all.

"I don't even know what I'm so worried about," he finally said, laughing awkwardly as he tried to defuse the mood, "It's not like we're going to have sex."

Rin looked down, smiling sheepishly. "Um… Actually, I was hoping…" He trailed off, fidgeting quietly before grabbing the white bag off his bedside table and handing it to Ryuuji.

Ryuuji stared dumbly at the bag, looking between it and Rin as if trying to figure out what medicine had to do with the situation. Rin just blushed, gesturing back to the bag. Ryuuji opened it and peered inside. It didn't contain medicine. It contained condoms and lube.

Ryuuji blinked, and then spoke, his voice flat and firm. "No."

"Aww, but… Come on!"

"No," Ryuuji said, shaking his head, "No way, Rin. What did I just tell you? This is way too fast. "

"B-b-but, this might be our only chance! I don't want to die a virgin!"

"What the hell do I look like, the Make-a-Wish Foundation?" Ryuuji asked sarcastically, still more annoyed than angry, but then his eyes darkened as he thought about what Rin had said. "…Is that why you accepted my confession?"

"What?! No!" Rin said, looking hurt. He grabbed Ryuuji's hands, taking the paper bag and tossing it aside. "Absolutely not! What the hell kind of person do you take me for?" he asked, but Ryuuji didn't look up. He just stared down at their hands, biting his lip.

"Ugh, and you call me an idiot," Rin said, and Ryuuji looked up to scowl at him, opening his mouth to bite out some acerbic retort before Rin cut him off.

"Do you have any idea," Rin said, his voice shaking as he continued to cling tightly to Ryuuji's hands, "Just how happy your confession made me?"

Ryuuji's frown slowly melted away at the seriousness in Rin's voice, in his words, in the way he was holding Ryuuji's hand like he was afraid that if he let it go he might never be able to touch him again. When he did finally release his grip it was to reach up to wipe his eyes, brushing away the tears that were threatening to fall.

"But…" Ryuuji trailed off, confused, "You seemed hesitant at first. You had to think about it. You-"

"I just had to try it for myself," Rin interrupted, "I mean, I looked at some porn and that was fine… Better than fine, but you never know until you try right? …And I wasn't talking about this morning." He paused, letting his meaning sink in.

"Back at my family's ryokan," Ryuuji said, filling in the blank. "I still don't know what happened."

"You kissed me," Rin said softly. "You told me you'd always wanted _this_, though you didn't have the chance to specify what you meant by that before passing out on top of me."

Ryuuji flushed hotly, his body going rigid. "I did _what_?!"

Rin shook his head, smiling softly and chuckling at the abject terror on Ryuuji's face. "Nothing happened," he said, "We were both fully clothed, but… I had thought that you guys were still mad at me; that you all hated me, because of who my father is… We were both obviously drunk. I didn't even know if you recognized me; if _I_ was the person the confession was meant for, but… I just wanted to believe you weren't mad at me anymore."

Ryuuji grimaced, feeling ashamed of his earlier doubt. He should have known that Rin valued friendship far too much to have jeopardized theirs just for a chance at sex. His confession obviously meant a lot to Rin, and yet he didn't even remember it. He sighed.

"I'm… sorry," Ryuuji said softly, forcing out the apology. "But… Why didn't you say anything?"

"You didn't remember, and like I said, I didn't even know if I was really the person the confession was meant for. That would have been an awkward conversation even if you weren't back to ignoring me." Rin shrugged, almost as if it didn't matter, and Ryuuji supposed, since he'd re-worked up the courage to confess while sober, it didn't matter. In fact it was probably better this way—clear headed and sure of his feelings—but oddly enough, if what Rin said was true, the timing of his first confession was placed cleanly before he'd had the chance to work through his feelings; through the guilt, the fear, and the hesitation. He'd been attracted to Rin and had come to care for the idiot in the short time he'd known him—before finding out the truth of his heritage—and yet his drunk self apparently had the self-awareness to look past all the shit about family and demons and see the boy for who he truly was and admit he still wanted him, even while sober-Ryuuji was still tackling the problem.

Ryuuji turned Rin's words over in his head as the other boy watched him quietly, patiently waiting for him come to his own decisions and make up his mind. Then Ryuuji reached up and pulled Rin in to a tight hug. "I'm really, really sorry," he said softly, his breath brushing against Rin's ear.

The half demon shivered. "You don't have to apologize. You're right. We just started dating and I shouldn't have been pushing you."

"I mean, I'm sorry for everything," Ryuuji said, "For shutting you out and making you think you couldn't talk to us. Making you doubt yourself. I mean, what was I thinking? Of course you couldn't tell us, and then we basically started talking shit about you without even realizing it, talking about Satan and the Blue Night. And even when the only reason you were forced to reveal yourself was to protect the rest of us we still shut you out."

He clung to Rin, squeezing him tight, trying to convey every last ounce of his apology through physical contact and hoping it would be enough. It didn't feel like it would be, but Rin shook his head, returning the tight hug.

"It's okay," Rin said softly, sounding like he was the one trying to console Ryuuji instead of the other way around.

Ryuuji felt light, as if Rin's arms were a tether, holding him down as the guilt he hadn't even realized he'd been carrying started to wash away.

"I'm such an idiot," he said, "I didn't even realize how fucked up it all was until I heard about your execution, as if until that moment it had just been petty classroom politics instead of something so much more... permanent."

"It's okay. It doesn't matter," Rin said, tightening his arms around Ryuuji until the other boy grunted—almost too tight, or maybe just tight enough—and Ryuuji squeezed back, burying his face against Rin's shoulder.

"All that matters is that you figured it out in the end," Rin said, "But... Damn it, I'm sorry. I'm a guy. I wanna' have sex. You can't hold it against me."

Ryuuji rolled his eyes as he let Rin give in to whining. "In case you've forgotten, I'm a guy too."

"So you gotta want it too, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Ryuuji said, sighing. He wasn't going to deny it. "It's just... I'm not supposed to. None of this is how it's supposed to be."

Rin pulled away from their embrace to stare questioningly at Ryuuji, and the older boy felt his face heating under Rin's stare. He wasn't sure if he'd wanted to say it, but it was too late now.

"I'm the future head of my clan. I'm a monk. I'm not supposed to give in to desire or fall in love with a demon. Hell, I'll be expected to produce an heir," he said looking away from Rin, afraid to see how the other boy would react to the confession that he would have to basically cheat on him. Beyond that, even if Rin's actions in Kyoto had bought him enough good will to make the rest of the Myodha accept their relationship, Ryuuji would have to take a wife to make an heir legitimate.

Rin's only response was a low chuckle and Ryuuji looked at him in confusion, only to see a wry smile spreading across his face.

"You said it."

"What?"

"You said you love me."

"Wha- No, I... Did I?" Ryuuji asked, his face burning as he thought back over his words. Okay, maybe he had, in a manner of speaking, unintentionally said it. He wasn't planning on taking it back now that it was out there, but leave it to Rin to find the silver lining on even the most threatening looking thunderhead, even if it meant the risk of being struck by lightning.

"You heard the rest of what I said, right?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Rin said, his eyes darkening, "But I don't wanna' talk about it. I might not even be alive this time next month, so it's kind of pointless to worry about it."

He cracked a grin at Ryuuji, but the dark look in his eyes told him Rin wasn't happy with what Ryuuji had said. Well, who would be?

"I just want to focus on now and enjoy the time we do have. If we end up having more than we think then it's a bonus!" he said laying down in Ryuuji's lap and rolling over. He closed his eyes, folding his arms over his chest, much like he'd done while sleeping on the bench with his head in Ryuuji's lap in the garden terrace.

Ryuuji sighed, running his hand through Rin's hair. The other boy smiled, turning his head in to Ryuuji's hand, embracing the physical contact.

"We've got like fifteen minutes now, and actually I should probably leave before your brother gets home."

"Why?"

"You gonna' fake sick? I'm in the same class as your brother. It would be doubly suspicious for both of us to have skipped together."

"... I don't mind if he finds out," Rin said.

Ryuuji sighed. "I don't think I do either... Not really, but if he finds out we're dating and we skipped school to spend the day together, he's going to know you were lying about being sick... And that we spent the day fooling around." Ryuuji blushed as Rin smiled wryly, his tongue darting out to wet his lips, his eyes dancing as he clearly played out some of the hotter memories from the day in his head. He rolled over again and pushed himself out of Ryuuji's lap.

"Okay, so maybe that's not a good idea, but I don't really want to hide it from him, He's my brother," Rin said, and then added, "He can keep a secret."

"I know, I know," Ryuuji said, looking thoughtful. "Then you need to man up and tell him the truth about skipping school."

Rin's smile turned in to a pout. "Don't wanna'," he whined as he flopped down on to the mattress again, looking for all the world like a child about to throw a tantrum, "Yukio already gives me enough crap on a day to day basis. If he learns the truth he'll act as if I'm totally untrustworthy forever."

Ryuuji stared at him, raising an eyebrow, unimpressed. Rin blushed.

"Come on, it was my first time skipping. It's not like I didn't have a good reason."

"I suppose…" Ryuuji shrugged, "If you're going to play sick, then I should go."

"No, wait!" Rin latched on to his wrist as Ryuuji stood. "Please stay."

"I'm not going to stay and help you lie."

Rin hesitated, looking down at the floor. "Please? Consider it my last request."

Ryuuji sighed, feeling the fight go out of him. In a way, he could understand Rin wanting someone to know about them, especially his brother. He got the impression that they used to be really close before everything that happened to their family. "It's not going to work unless you convince him you really are sick."

Rin frowned. "You got any bright ideas how to do that? Cuz' Yukio is pretty damn good at knowing the truth."

"You're probably just bad at lying," Ryuuji said, and then hesitantly added, "Yeah… I grew up with Shima. I got a good idea of how to properly fake sick, but uh… I'm gonna' have to apologize in advance. Or you can consider it your punishment for trying to guilt trip me in to having sex with you. Whatever makes you feel better."

Rin's face fell as apprehension set in.

* * *

><p>"This! *gasp* Sucks!" Rin said, speaking in between huge panting gulps while trying to do push ups with Ryuuji sitting on his back.<p>

"I told you to hold your breath," Ryuuji said, "This won't work otherwise."

Rin fought down the urge to whine and took another deep breath, holding it in.

He had changed back in to his pyjamas at Ryuuji's suggestion and had already soaked them through with sweat. When they had started, he'd done almost twenty push-ups on a single breath without much effort, at which point Ryuuji sat on his back to add weight. Even then, the added weight didn't bother Rin too much at first, but damn! Physical labour while holding your breath sucked. He was dizzy and his arms shook with every additional push up. His cheeks were flushed and his body burned, but for some reason he was shivering. Probably the lack of oxygen. At this rate he wasn't going to be faking sick; he'd actually be sick.

Ryuuji glanced at the clock. The bell had already rung, signalling the end of the school day, and if Yukio came looking for Rin right away, which he most certainly would, their dorm room would be the first place he checked—if he didn't already know Rin was there. They had five minutes at best, if Yukio didn't hurry. He'd probably hurry. He'd probably be pissed.

Ryuuji strained his ears, listening for the sounds of creaking doors or footsteps over Rin's laboured grunting. Rin needed to be in bed when Yukio arrived. If he walked in on this sight their cover story would be blown.

Rin stopped mid-push up. "…Ryuuji, I don't feel-ulp!" he stopped, cutting himself off before he could even take a fresh breath, and lurched to his knees. Ryuuji jumped from Rin's back and passed him the nearby trash bin which Rin immediately vomited in to.

When Rin had finished purging his stomach he looked up at Ryuuji with bleary, tear filled eyes. "Uuuuugh. Noooo. Our picnic lunch…" Rin whined.

Ryuuji rubbed Rin's back and took the trash can from him, setting it aside and then guiding Rin back to his bed. The exhausted half-demon flopped down on to the mattress face first and simply lay there as Ryuuji tried to tuck his blanket in around him.

"I'll get you something to drink," he said and left the room, quietly tiptoeing down the hall toward the kitchen, not really knowing why he was sneaking. He peeked his head inside the kitchen and peered around. He'd heard the story about how territorial the little kitchen demon could be.

"Is it okay if I come in?" He asked the empty kitchen, feeling like an idiot. What did he expect? An answer? "Rin isn't feeling well," he said as he crossed the threshold. He jumped as Ukobach came around a corner between a cupboard and a stack of pots as if from nowhere. He hesitated as Ukobach approached him, unable to understand the little demon as he chittered at him, but he did sound concerned rather than angry.

"He... Uh... He threw up, so I was just getting him some water," he explained.

Ukobach nodded and pointed to one of the cupboards. Ryuuji looked inside and found the drinking glasses. He thanked Ukobach, filled the cup and was about to leave when Ukobach started chittering again. He looked over and saw the small demon grinding herbs with a mortar and pestle, and Ukobach gestured for him to wait, so he did, uncertain and feeling increasingly guilty as he watched Ukobach prepare some kind of herbal drink.

"For Rin?" Ryuuji asked as Ukobach handed him the drink. The little demon nodded, rubbing his stomach and giving Ryuuji a thumbs-up.

"Thanks. I'm sure he'll appreciate it," he said, hesitating slightly before he hurried out of the kitchen. He almost collided with Yukio.

Ryuuji recoiled and almost dropped the two cups, catching them at the last second without spilling much. He could feel his face burning, even as he tried to keep it impassive. Yukio was technically younger than him, but Ryuuji couldn't get past the fact that he was also a teacher; a teacher who knew he hadn't been at school.

"Yukio. Hi... I was just bringing these to Rin," he said, "He's sick."

He was not a good liar. He wasn't used to it and he could almost feel Yukio's suspicion as the other boy raised a silent eyebrow and asked, "Oh, is he? He seemed fine this morning."

Ryuuji shrugged. It would be up to Rin to play his part now, and technically he had been sick, even though it was his body rebelling against forced physical labour rather than trying to fight off an infection or a case of food poisoning.

Yukio said nothing further, and the atmosphere was tense as they walked silently together to the twin's room. Ryuuji almost breathed a sigh of relief as he was hit with the smell of acid and bile and had to fight the urge to wretch.

Rin perked up as the door opened, but he wilted slightly as Yukio entered. He was looking better, some of his color having returned, but he was still flushed and his hair was matted down with sweat.

"Here you go," Ryuuji said as he handed Rin the glass of water. Rin took it eagerly, swishing the water around in his mouth, trying to clear out the acrid aftertaste of vomit.

"Nii-san, why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well?" Yukio asked, going to Rin's side and feeling his forehead. His concern made it clear he'd bought the scene, and Ryuuji felt his own guilt rising, sitting in his stomach like a rock.

"It came on real quick," Rin said, "Ryuuji was here to take care of me, so don't worry about it."

"About that," Yukio said eyeing Ryuuji, "Why are you here, Suguro-kun? You shouldn't be missing school on Rin's account."

"I had to talk to him about something and I didn't feel it could wait," Ryuuji said, "Besides, you shouldn't miss school either."

"Of course not, but I'm his brother. It's literally my job to look after him. Why not call me?"

Funny, he'd heard the stories about Ukobach. He hadn't realized Yukio would be so territorial too.

"Well...Um… The thing is... What I wanted to talk to him about was..."

"He asked me out," Rin said, interrupting before Ryuuji could drag that sentence out any further. Yukio spun to stare at his brother who was smiling broadly, despite his sorry physical state, before turning back to stare at Ryuuji.

"I see," he said, his tone carefully neutral, yet somehow still dripping with suspicion.

"Uh... Yeah, I did," Ryuuji said, even though he couldn't tell if Yukio was looking to him to confirm an otherwise outrageous statement, or if there wasn't some measure of hostility hidden behind the teacher's steely gaze.

"I see," he said again, slower this time as he looked back at Rin, taking in his brother's huge, eager smile. Finally he just sighed. "Thanks for looking after him," Yukio said, and he clapped Ryuuji on the shoulder as he turned and headed towards his desk.

"Of course."

"I don't just mean today," Yukio said, turning to give Ryuuji a meaningful look. Ryuuji nodded. That was as good as Yukio giving them his blessing, and Ryuuji hadn't realized until just that moment how good it felt to have it.

"I assume I'll see you in pharmacology class today?" Yukio asked over his shoulder as he gathered up some paperwork from his desk, back in teacher mode.

"O-of course." He couldn't very well tell his teacher he'd be skipping his class too. Not that he planned to skip it.

"What's that?" Yukio suddenly asked, and both Rin and Ryuuji looked down to where he was gesturing and saw the white pharmacy bag where it had fallen after Rin tossed it aside. Rin's eyes widened and he snatched up the bag, shoving it in to the drawer of his bedside table.

"Nothing! Just some medicine Ryuuji brought me. I already took some," he said quickly. Ryuuji turned bright red and shot Rin a glare, hoping that Yukio wouldn't pay Rin's obvious nervousness any mind. Having Yukio look inside the bag was the last thing they needed, especially if he thought Ryuuji was the one who'd bought it.

"S-speaking of medicine," Ryuuji said, changing the subject, "Ukobach made this." He handed Rin the second cup, and the half demon stared curiously at the warm, brown liquid before taking a tentative sniff and curling his nose.

"What is it?" Rin asked balefully.

Ryuuji shrugged. "I think it's supposed to help settle your stomach."

"Well, I actually feel much better after puking," Rin said, trying to hand the cup back to Ryuuji. Ryuuji didn't doubt he did feel better considering he'd coincidentally stopped doing push-ups while holding his breath around the same time.

"I think he's worried about you. He went to a lot of effort to make this for you when he heard you weren't feeling well," Ryuuji said, laying on the guilt as he pressed the cup back in to Rin's hands. Let Rin feel a little bit of the guilt he had felt over being forced to aid in his lie.

Rin scowled, pursing his lips as he stared in to the dark brew. He finally took a sip, made an unpleasant face, and then made direct eye contact, glaring at Ryuuji as he downed the rest of the drink.

"Happy now?" he asked.

"Make sure to thank him later," Ryuuji said, chuckling as he took the cup from Rin and set it aside. He then sat on the bed beside Rin, brushing the half-demon's sweaty hair away from his forehead and checking his temperature, even though it was just for show.

"Looks like it's already working."

"I thought you said it was for my stomach," Rin said, fighting the urge to lean in to Ryuuji's touch while his brother was still in the room.

"No clue. I don't speak demon."

Rin laughed as he slapped Ryuuji's hand away playfully.

Yukio cleared his throat and they both looked up, blushing.

"If you're feeling better," Yukio said, "You can work on the homework I picked up for you from your teachers."

"Ugh, homework? But I'm sick," Rin whined, flopping down on the bed and throwing his arms over his face.

Yukio didn't respond to Rin's whining. He simply left the aforementioned homework on Rin's desk. "See you in class, Suguro-kun," Yukio said as he left the room.

They sat in silence for a moment before Ryuuji leaned over and kissed Rin on the cheek. "I guess I'd better get going too," he said.

Before he could stand, Rin wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly and burying his face in the nape of Ryuuji's neck. "Thanks," he said, his voice muffled against skin and fabric, "for today."

"My pleasure," Ryuuji said, kissing the top of Rin's head.

"I mean it," Rin said, "This might sound lame, but… Today has been like, the best day of my life."

"That's not lame, so much as it is depressing," Ryuuji said, laughing slightly in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"I'm serious," Rin said, tightening his grip on the other boy.

Ryuuji didn't say anything. He simply returned the hug, burying his face in Rin's hair. He could sense it. It was almost like Rin was saying goodbye. If Ryuuji didn't tell his friends—if they kept their relationships a secret—there was no way of knowing if they'd have another chance to be close like this before Rin's execution. Rin had said he was okay with it. He had used that fact to weasel this day together out of Ryuuji in the first place, but now all Ryuuji could think of was how much he didn't want to let go. Not now, while holding the half demon boy in his arms; not tomorrow, when his friends would question his choices only to turn around and walk on egg shells around him after the execution if he told them; not later, when the Vatican would have to drag Rin from his arms kicking and screaming. Not that it would go down like that. It would probably be Ryuuji who did the kicking and screaming. Rin wouldn't risk hurting people who were just doing their jobs.

_ Shit._ Ryuuji loosened his embrace to wipe his eyes and cleared his throat. "I- I gotta' go," he said, "I'll see ya' tomorrow."

"See ya' tomorrow," Rin said softly, releasing him.

Ryuuji started to stand, but stopped, taking Rin's face in his hands and kissing him deeply. Rin wound his fists up in the front of Ryuuji's shirt, leaning in to the kiss until they had to pull apart to breathe. They stared in to each other's eyes, panting, their breath mingling, until Ryuuji turned away. Rin released his grip on Ryuuji's shirt as the other boy stood.

"See ya'," Ryuuji said again, but then he smirked, "I'll take notes for you." Rin just rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

_ Today's the day I'll tell them,_ Ryuuji thought for the umpteenth time during his morning jog. He wasn't even sure what was holding him back, and yet he'd spent the past few days agonizing over not being able to spend the time with Rin and feeling guilty that he was hiding something from his friends and that his own bizarre apprehension about the whole situation was punishing Rin by keeping them apart.

Well, Rin was making the best of it. He didn't miss a single chance to annoy Ryuuji by saying something suggestive, winking or making meaningful, slightly too long eye contact, and god forbid, the other day he'd gotten his hands on a popsicle during lunch. That had been torture, but Ryuuji certainly couldn't blame him, as uncomfortable as it made him feel. Thank God they'd told Yukio though. They hadn't had the chance to do much more than kiss a little bit here and there, but he was able to spend a bit of time with Rin in the evenings without anyone questioning it. Still, it wasn't enough, and he hated that he had to hide it during the day.

_ Today's the day I'll tell them_, he thought as he showered, did his hair, when he greeted Konekumaru—using the excuse that he wanted to tell Koneko and Shima at the same time to stop him from doing it right then and there—and during breakfast, and the walk to school.

Damn it.

When he got to school, Shima, Konekomaru, and Rin were all clustered together in front of the lockers. This would be the perfect opportunity to tell them, and yet Ryuuji found himself hesitating, held back by some unnamable doubt. Until he heard Shima shout.

"A love letter!"

His voice carried clear across the entrance and Ryuuji felt a pang of jealousy which he immediately quashed. It was stupid to feel jealous when nobody knew they were in a relationship. What right did he have to even feel jealous when it was him who wanted it kept secret? Well, he was about to fix that.

"G'morning," he said as he approached the group, "What's that?"

No answer came. Instead Rin flung the letter against the ground in disgust.

"Ugh, Mephisto? Why'd he have to use such a disgusting envelope?" Rin asked, exasperated. Indeed, it was bright pink and covered in girly rainbow and candy themed stickers, not to mention the apparently custom made Mephisto dog form sticker. Where the hell did he get shit like that?

But Ryuuji's jealousy was wiped away and instantly replaced with curiosity. He scooped the letter off the ground and handed it back to Rin.

"It could be important," he said, "You'd better read it." He waited, impatient as Rin opened the letter and all three of them read it over his shoulder.

"It says your execution's been suspended!"

"Something like that was decided?" Rin asked.

Ryuuji watched him, even as the half demon pretended to feign ignorance over such an important event. Rin's eyes met Ryuuji's for only a second and the half demon boy flashed him a huge smile and Ryuuji could see the relief hidden there. It wasn't going to end. At least not yet. His execution had only been suspended, but it no longer loomed like the blade on a guillotine raised over their heads. They had time, and yet he could have grabbed Rin and kissed him right then and there, oblivious to those around them and the crowd it would draw, but a scream rang out, cutting through the normal noise of the early school day. Rin reacted instinctively, leading the charge and the Kyoto trio had to run to catch up. But it didn't matter.

They had time.


End file.
